Skip to end of metadata
Go to start of metadata

This section describes the new features and technologies added in WebDesktop V2.0. Here are the following list of new features supported by WebDesktop V2.0:

On this page:

WebMenu Runtime Engine

To overcome the limitation of displaying popup window type's content out of the browser's window boundary and to introduce other possible new features, the MenuWindowType is now added in WebMenu 2.0 Component.

Menu Window Type 

In previous version, components that used WebMenu Engine such as WebContextMenu, WebMenuBar, WebToolBar, WebDesktopManager and WebNotification will have its window displayed in a special "popup" type when running in Internet Explorer browser. This behavior is by default and unchangeable in previous version.

The main advantage of the "popup" window type is its ability to display its content out of the browser's window boundary. However, Internet Explorer 7.0 has removed this function from "popup" object and introduced limited positioning by design.

 

To overcome this limitation and to introduce other possible new features, the MenuWindowType is now added WebMenu 2.0 Component.
The default value is set to Popup to preserve the behavior in previous version.

Fading Animation 

In previous version, animation effect is not possible because WebMenu used Internet Explorer's special popup object.

In this new version, you can now add smooth fading animation effect to all components that based on WebMenu. For instance, WebContextMenu, WebToolBar, WebMenuBar and other Intersoft's components that integrates WebMenu Runtime System.

 

 

Before you can enable animation, you will need to set MenuWindowType to Normal. The default value of MenuWindowType is set to Popup to preserve compatibility with previous version.
To enable animation, simply set MenuStyleSettings.MenuAnimation to True.

DropShadow Effect 

In addition to new animation capability in version 2.0, WebMenu also adds the ability to show dropshadow effect when displayed. All sub menu will be automatically applied as well.

Several notes regarding this feature:

  • Best used with animation effect to create smooth, visually appealing Menu.
  • This feature is not supported in Mozilla browsers since Mozilla has not provide such API.
  • As in animation feature, you also need to set the MenuWindowType to Normal in order to enable dropshadow effect. 

WebFlyPostBackManager Component

In WebDesktop 2.0, WebFlyPostBackManager takes you a step further by adding support to perform partial rendering over Intersoft's own components such as WebGrid, WebCombo, WebInput or any UI components in the WebDesktop.

AJAX over Intersoft's components 

In previous version, WebFlyPostBackManager enables you to instantly convert standard .NET controls that perform page postback become AJAX callback, without changes to the codes. However, this function is not supported on complex component or other third party component.

 

In version 2.0, WebFlyPostBackManager takes you a step further by adding support to perform partial rendering over Intersoft's own components such as WebGrid, WebCombo, WebInput or any UI components in the WebDesktop. This means you can now write coding logic in the professional approach by using the server-side programming.
For instance, take a very basic scenario such as adding a GroupColumn to WebGrid and then present the new changes when the user clicks on a standard ASP.NET Button. See the following codes:

 

 
C#

A new property called RequiresUIRefresh has been added to all Intersoft's components. As you noticed in above codes, the RequiresUIRefresh property of WebGrid1 instance is set to true. The property is required to be set to true to indicate its user interface needs to be updated by the FlyPostbackManager control.

 

While standard .NET controls can be automatically updated when they have changed, Intersoft controls do not use similar technique as our controls provide broad range of scenarios. For instance, there are scenarios where some of the data properties need to be changed, but the user interface does not need to be updated. With property control, developers will have more flexibility to control the behavior of the partial update.
To learn more about this new capability, launch Live Samples and see the sample at WebDesktop.NET > What's new in version 2.0 > WebFlyPostBackManager AJAX over Intersoft Control. 

WebNotification Component

WebDesktop 2.0 enhances its WebNotification to be able to send notification from the WebForm page's code behind without the needs to create additional WebService or other proxy resource.

Unbound Notify 

In its initial concept, WebNotification is a control that acts as a timer which periodically interact with a server side resource, either it is WebForm or WebService. When the server side returns WebNotificationEvent object, the WebNotification control will display an Outlook-like or Messenger-like notification window. This means the WebNotification control should be assigned to a WebForm or WebService resource through its ServiceUrl property. This is called as Bound Mode Notification.

 

New in WebNotification 2.0 is the ability to send notification from the WebForm page's code behind without the needs to create additional WebService or other proxy resource.
Called as Unbound mode, this new feature enables basic scenarios that do not require periodic timer to be implemented easily and programmatically in code behind.

 

For instance, you want to display a one-time notification during first load of a web page to inform visitors that the site is currently under maintenance. You can easily add a WebNotification control to the web page and use Notify method in the web page's code behind. See sample codes in the following.
 
C#

The Notify method used in above sample takes 3 parameters, the description text, the image and the caption text. There are 4 overloads for the Notify method with various parameters for your convenience in coding.

SmartWebResources

WebDesktop 2.0 introduces SmartWebResources™ which is able to simplify the deployment process. No more copying javascript, component images and runtime files. You can simply copy the assemblies to the bin folder.

Styles

WebDesktop.NET 2.0 is strongly focused on new visual styles and appearance that based on Microsoft's latest user interface breakthrough, such as in Windows® Vista and Office 2007® - which have quickly become the new standards in user interface components industry.

 

To satisfy your end users with these breakthrough visual styles in your web application, WebDesktop.NET 2.0 has included Office 2007® visual style to most applicable components such as toolbar, menubar, navigation pane and menu system. These new visual styles can be easily applied with one button click from Layout Manager.
The following images are provided to give you quick reference to the new visual styles included in WebDesktop.NET 2.0

You can also experience these new visual styles in Live Samples > WebDesktop.NET > What's new in version 2.0.

 

WebDesktopManager Office 2007 Style WebPaneManager Office 2007 Style WebContextMenu/WebMenu Office 2007 Style 
WebToolBar Office 2007 Style WebToolBar Vista Style WebMenuBar Office 2007 Style 
WebMenuBar Vista Style PlaceHolderManager Office 2007 Style WebNavPane Office 2007 Style 
WebExplorerPane Vista Style WebNotification Vista Style WebTab Vista Style 
WebTab Office 2007 Style The complete WebUI Studio.NET® 2007 components in the fashion of Office 2007 Style 

Master Page Support

All components in WebDesktop.NET 2.0 have been refined to fully support Master Page in ASP.NET 2.0. You can use WebDesktop.NET components in either single or nested Master Page.

Component Designer 2.0

WebDesktop.NET 2.0 incorporates new Component Designer 2.0 as the main editor for all visual components in the collection. The new Component Designer sports consistent Vista style dialog and appearance to improve usability and developer's productivity.

The new Component Designer featuring:

  • Redesigned user experience for better layout management.
  • Improved Layout Manager for easier user interaction.
  • Improved Structure Manager, including the new ability to Preview Xml.


Related Topics